Construction - Day 40

It's interesting to see the differences in building between the house we're in now and our new house. When we signed a contract to build our house in Maricopa, the builders were selling a house a day. We signed in July and we closed in March. It was getting to the point that the trade workers were hard to come by. Shortly after we bought, they were selling homes using a lottery system. Dozens of people were on waiting lists to buy a handful of houses.

Now they're averaging sales of about a house a week and finishing construction in 135 days per house. They have an overabundance of trades, and they're very anxious to get properties off of their hands. Never mind all of the forclosures and short sales out there... but I'm sure you're all more than aware of that.

Seems kind of early for them to be welcoming us to our home, but counting the days, it looks like we're almost a third of the way there.




It still cracks me up to see the chicken wire on the outside of the house.

Grandpa Jim Campagna

My grandpa, James Joseph Campagna passed away on January 10, 2010, reuniting with his wife, Karen.

This is a photo of him in June of 1964 with his son, J.J. junior. It was J.J.'s first haircut, and the barbershop belonged to Jim's father.

My most cherished memory about my grandpa is the way he always got teary-eyed whenever family visits came to an end.

He will be missed.

First Tooth

Finally, at the ripe old age of nine and a half months, Avery has cut her first tooth! It's the bottom left incisor. I can barely see it, let alone take a picture of it, but I promise that photos will follow as soon as possible.

Construction - Day 24

We stopped by the house after the zoo to check progress. They started framing three days prior to these pictures. It's amazing how quickly things move in the initial stages of a house being built. There is still a lot of finish work that needs to be done on the framing, but the house has really taken shape.

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland

We celebrated New Year's Eve by playing in the snow at the Phoenix Zoo. Avery and Trent hadn't seen snow before and we weren't sure how they'd react to it. It took Trent a little while to get into it, but after a few minutes, he was having a good time jumping in, kicking, and running through the white stuff. Avery enjoyed watching all the kids, but wasn't too fond of getting her hands cold. I think both of them are fine with living in the desert and not having snow to play in during the winter. I think they would get used to it, though...

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Pure joy...







As always, we're filled with gratitude for all the amazing gifts we receive from family and friends. Not just the toys, but the love that's behind them.

Chocolate Truffle Cookies

I'm always on the lookout for great recipes that have the potential to become the stuff of holiday tradition. Let me tell you, I will be keeping this recipe because these cookies are amazing! They're closer to truffles than cookies. I think they taste best a day later. An added bonus: this is possibly the best raw cookie dough I've ever tasted. I found the recipe on the Baking Bites blog.


Chocolate Truffle Cookies
1 1/4 cups butter, room temperature
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 cups chocolate chips
approx. 1/3 cup cocoa powder (for rolling)
approx. 2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar (for rolling)

Preheat oven to 325F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar, adding sugar in slowly so that it doesn’t turn the kitchen white. Sift in cocoa powder and salt, and mix until well integrated. Beat in sour cream and vanilla extract.
With the mixer on low, blend in flour until no streaks of flour remain. Stir in chocolate chips.
Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and roll in the cocoa powder and place on baking sheet. Do not flatten cookies. Cookies will not spread too much, so they can be placed fairly close together. If your kitchen is very warm and the dough is hard to handle (i.e. if you’re making these during the summer, you might want to refrigerate the dough for 30-60 minutes before shaping the cookies).
Bake for 10 minutes. Cookies will just barely be set. Let cool on baking sheet for 3-5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
When cookies have reached room temperature, after about 30-45 minutes, roll in powdered sugar until completely coated.
Store in an airtight container.

Makes about 4 1/2 dozen.